Twisted
by Eva Kelly
Summary: Brennan gave him up for his own sake, and now Booth is moving on. But she never expected that jealousy would be the one emotion she couldn't control, and Booth never expected he'd have one more shot at happily ever after. I still don't own Bones
1. Chapter 1

Booth wanted to hide. He wanted to stay home in his sweats and watch ESPN and eat pizza and drink beer and nurse his broken heart. Everything he'd wanted for years had been ripped away from him. Sure it had been a gamble. Sure he'd known she'd probably reject him… but part of him, a bigger part than he cared to admit, had really thought that she loved him back.

He couldn't hide though. He had an important job to do and his partner made that job easier for him. So he had to move on. Had to get past this thing with Bones that was tearing him up inside. And the only way he knew how to do that, aside from hitting the tables, was to find someone else. Someone who actually wanted him. Someone who could make him forget.

But he'd been off the market for so long, he had no idea how to go about it. He hadn't wanted any woman other than Bones for… for a really long time. He did get hit on a lot though. That would work in his favor. He could just ask out the next woman who hit on him… who wasn't a suspect…or a witness…or a co-worker.

This was a good thing really. Now he knew. He'd never have regrets. He'd never wonder if they could've been something great if he'd just had the balls to make a move. He knew the truth. And even though it hurt, it forced him to move forward. To get on with his life.

* * *

Temperance Brennan wanted to hide. She wanted to cry and scream and kick herself for being such a broken person. For being so incapable of love and devotion. But she couldn't. She couldn't react like a normal person, because she wasn't normal. Booth had offered her everything she never knew she wanted and she'd rejected him. She'd given up any hope of falling in love, getting married, having children… because the only man she could have those things with was Booth. And she could not bring herself to inflict her cold, distant heart on a man like him. He deserved better.

She couldn't be with him. But she could hide. She could run away for a while and give herself time to pull it together.

* * *

"Where's Bones, we've got a case?" Booth sauntered into Angela's office late Friday.

"She took the week off…something about a friend's cabin and time to get started on her next book." Angela eyed him curiously "She didn't tell you?" Her favorite agent raked one hand through his dark hair in frustration.

"I should've known she'd do this."

"Do what?" His eyes shot down to meet hers, and his gaze was cautious….calculating. Like he wasn't sure if he could trust her. "Come on Booth. Just spill it, I won't tell anyone" He paced the room.

"I just…I made a move…I tried to convince her to… you know…give us a shot." She gasped. This was not at ALL what she expected him to say. "She rejected me and now she feels guilty so she's avoiding me." He stopped pacing and sat. "Thing is…She was right. I can't be with someone who doesn't want forever….She was right and I'm moving on and I just want things to…you know…Go back to normal."

"Oh my God Booth," was all she could say. How could Brennan be so stupid?

"Don't get me wrong I mean, I don't regret giving it a shot. And I wish she would've given me a chance but…we gotta move on now you know?"

"No… no I don't…I...you just have to give her some time Booth. Don't give up." She pleaded.

"She's had five years Ang. She doesn't need more time… Did she say when she's coming back?"

"Wednesday." He stood to go.

"Great. Well, I'll have the remains sent here and you guys can …you know… do what you do," he strolled out of her office without another word. A slow ache clutched at her heart… this was all wrong!

* * *

Booth had a date lined up for Wednesday, mostly just to get his mind off his partner's return. He had another date lined up for Friday with a different woman. One he met at the grocery store, the other was the clerk at the courthouse. Both beautiful, both into him and neither were brilliant scientists. He was moving on and he wasn't messing around. He was determined that this day would not be awkward or painful for either of them. He had two decent suspects in his new case but he still needed the murder weapon and the crime scene to seal the deal. He had to admit, the squints worked surprisingly well without Bones' help.

When he walked onto the platform, Hodgins was on his hands and knees and Wendell was standing over him with a metal folding chair above his head. Bones, Cam and Angela were all watching intently from the sidelines. Wendell brought the chair down slowly onto Hodgins' back. "See the angle here? It matches the wound exactly."

"And the particulates are consistent with the coating found on two brands of cheap folding chairs." Hodgins added from the floor.

"That's enough for a warrant." Cam handed him the folder with the particulate evidence and he turned to go. "You comin' Bones?" After a moment's hesitation he heard her heels clicking on the floor behind him.

"Angela fill you in on the case?" He asked once they were in the car.

"Yes. She says that a 36 year old female was killed by blunt force trauma to the skull and dumped in the river."

"Soccer mom, part time accountant, no enemies, good marriage…"

"So who are your suspects?"

"Her boss was into her, she rejected him and we have a sketchy email from him the morning of the murder." She nodded thoughtfully. "And a neighbor kid saw her get in the car with her friend Joanie within an hour of estimated time of death. Joanie says they got coffee and she dropped her off at the end of her driveway. We confirmed the coffee but she never made it home.

"And since we don't know where she was murdered, we can't verify her story."

"Exactly." Things were back to normal. They were partners and friends and he could handle this. He felt better than he had all week. After a search of both suspects houses turned up no murder weapon, they called it quits for the day.

"Should we go eat?" She asked as he drove her back to the lab. Here it was. Had he really moved on? Could he really choose to go out with another woman instead of spending the night at the diner with Bones?

"Can't. I got a date" he said. She froze.

"Tonight?"

"Yup. Valerie, from the courthouse. You've seen her down there. She's cute right?"

"The blond woman with the extremely white teeth?"

"That's the one. Wish me luck." She got out of the car slowly. "Night Bones." Yup. He was moving on.

* * *

A/N: Not sure how this ended up being such a long story - it was just supposed to be a quick post-ep! It all came out in one day, so it's not carefully edited and may end up a little OOC. 6 long chapters, I'll post 2 a day so we're done before 5x17 :) Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

"Booth has a date." Temperance Brennan wandered into Angela's office. Not sure where else to go.

"Of course he does" Angela snapped. "And it could've been you if you weren't so intent on sabotaging your own happiness."

"Booth told you!?" That was so unlike him.

"He came looking for you last week when you were running scared."

"I was not running scared" she lied. Angela snorted in disbelief.

"Fine…I was giving myself time to cope with the consequences of my actions. It was a rational decision." She had to talk to someone and Angela was the only person she could really open up to. And since she already knew what happened, it wouldn't be a betrayal of Booth's confidence to talk to her about it.

"You gave up your one shot at happiness Brennan. You know that right."

"I do." She surprised herself with her honesty.

"You do?" Angela was obviously just as surprised as she was.

"He deserves so much better Ang," tears threatened and she choked on the words.

"He deserves to be with the woman he loves." She countered.

"I don't think I can be that woman. I don't know how to be." Angela sat down beside her on the couch.

"You're being that woman right now Brennan." She said softly laying one hand on her shoulder, "You're giving up something you really want because you believe it's better for Booth this way. That's what love looks like." Tears poured down her face as she tried to wrap her mind around what Angela was saying. "Only you're wrong about him. He can't be happy with someone else and you're not doing him any favors by pretending you don't love him." She slid down on the couch to lay her head Angela's lap, her friend's long artists fingers stroking her hair, comforting her like the mother she'd lost so long ago.

* * *

Brennan was a wreck. She was too hard headed to admit she was wrong, but she couldn't stop crying either. Angela drove her home, put her to bed and slept on her couch. They had court early the next day and she was still in yesterday's clothes. Brennan offered to loan her something, but she knew she wouldn't feel right sitting in front of a jury in anything but her own clothes. Only one thing to do.

"Hodgins will you bring me some clothes?" She began without preamble.

"Ang?" He grumbled.

"Sorry to wake you but we have to be there in an hour and my apartment is too far away, it's closer to your place."

"Who is it baby?" She heard a woman's voice and cringed. She should've taken her own damn advice and hung onto that man for dear life.

"I think I have some stuff here Ang. You left some red short pants things and a dress and…"

"No." She interrupted. "I need my blue dress and silver earrings and black leggings and those black embroidered flats…" She rattled through the list quickly. "And my black bra and a thong." She brushed her wet hair into a low loose bun.

"K got it. See you in an hour" He had an incredible memory. She had no doubt he'd be there fifteen minutes early with everything she needed.

"Did you reach Dr. Hodgins?" Brennan looked like hell. Dark circles under her red puffy eyes, her hair was a mess and she had mascara all over her face.

"Yeah… he's still got a key to my place so he's bringing my stuff to the courthouse. Now get in the shower. You look like death."

The shower didn't help much. Even with makeup and a classic black blazer she looked like the complete opposite of the "together" Brennan she knew and loved. They arrived at the courthouse with ten minutes to spare. Booth, Hodgins and Cam were waiting for them outside the courtroom. Jack held out her black duffle bag.

"All there," he said carelessly. She kissed his cheek and bolted for the bathroom. She probably shouldn't have done that but… he was her hero for the morning and he deserved a token of her appreciation. He'd thought of everything, even the necklace she'd forgotten to mention and her favorite frosty lip gloss. She was an idiot. Why didn't she hang on to him, force him to work through their problems instead of running away. She was just as stupid as Brennan, only she had no abandonment issues to excuse her moronic behavior.

* * *

"You okay Dr. B? You look…tired." Hodgins asked in concern. Booth thought she did look tired. Exhausted actually. Maybe she had stayed up all night working on the case. "You two girls have a few drinks last night? How come Angie crashed at your place?" Hodgins continued. That was weird. It was the middle of the week.

"I'm fine Dr. Hodgins. Angela and I merely spent the evening conversing and time got away from us." She said her eyes shifting from side to side. She was lying. "Shall we go in?" She didn't wait for a response, just walked past them into the busy courtroom.

He really shouldn't be worrying about Bones. He shouldn't be thinking about her at all. Her lack of sleep should not make any difference to him one way or the other. Was he curious what the girly squints were talking about into the wee hours of the morning? Sure. Did he suspect that his name had come up once or twice? Sure he did. But he couldn't dwell on that. It was a new Seely Booth that rolled out of bed that morning and he was not going back to the way things were before. He couldn't make her the center of his world anymore.

Instead of waiting with the squints while the jury deliberated, he went in search of Valerie. She took her break and they sat on a bench outside drinking coffee and talking for a while. She was nice, not the brightest crayon in the box, but nice. She laughed at his jokes and gave him compliments and she had beautiful soft brown eyes and a great body. He wasn't sure if it would go anywhere, but it was a great distraction for now.

"Excuse me" a strained unrecognizable voice came from behind. He turned to see Bones, her eyes glued to Valerie's forehead, standing behind him "Booth, the jury's back."

"Already?" He jumped up and tossed his half finished coffee in the trash before he remembered his manners.

"Valerie this is my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan, Bones this is Val." It was weird seeing the two women shake hands. Val was all smiles and "nice to meet you's" but Bones looked vaguely repulsed.

"Booth." She urged him impatiently.

"Right, gotta go Val. I'll call you this weekend okay?" He squeezed her hand and trailed after his partner.

"So…what do you think of her?" He asked. She didn't look at him, just shrugged.

"She is attractive…though not as educated as the women you usually date."

"How do you know that?" He demanded.

"She's a secretary Booth." He heard the disapproval in her voice.

"She's a clerk, not a secretary. And she's a good person Bones. Don't act like she's worthless because she doesn't have ten Ph.D's or whatever." He said irritably.

"At least Tessa had a law degree, though the level of intelligence required to interpret the law is limited… and Cam is relatively intelligent," She continued as though he hadn't interrupted. "I just don't think you can be with a woman who is not your equal intellectually." Was that a compliment? It was always so hard to tell with Bones.

"The woman I'm taking out tomorrow is a teacher. Maybe you'll like her better huh?" She gave him the dirtiest glare.

"You're dating two women?" She demanded.

"Not dating, I just had two first dates this week. Hopefully I'll be dat_ing_ one of them in the future. Depends on how Friday goes."

"That's so…unlike you," her forehead crinkled as they walked into the court room.

"I told you Bones…I'm gonna find somebody." He whispered just in time to hear the verdict. Guilty. They'd done it again. This team was amazing. The guy they just put away, he'd killed two young girls. And he would've done it again if they hadn't caught him, Booth had seen it in his eyes. No. He could not be the one to break up the team, their success rate depended on every single person working well together. It made him more determined than ever to get over his partner. He had to keep things professional with Bones and prove to her that he'd moved on with his life. Innocent people's lives depended on it.


	3. Chapter 3

Why did Booth have to be so…symmetrical? And why did he have to have such attractive musculature? And why did his face have to be so…. Hot. It was irritating really. Not as annoying as Valerie with her perfect body and her silky hair. But annoying none the less. And why did he have to schedule two dates in one week. The one date was painful enough, she couldn't imagine going through it all over again on Friday. The old Booth would've never done anything like that. But this wasn't the old Booth. Everything was different now. He had shut her out. Sure he was keeping up appearances for work but she'd shut out enough people in her life to recognized the signs. This was her first time on the receiving end of a 'shut out' though, and she found it quite painful. Especially coming from the man who'd broken down her defenses and taught her what it was to trust.

"Booth…" Booth answered his phone as they all walked together back to their cars in the parking garage. "Hey Sadra, what's up?" His voice softened. "Sure. Yeah we could do later. I'll push back the reservations…you like Italian? Great see you tomorrow."

"Who was that?" Cam asked.

"Oh, you didn't know? Booth is actually dating two women now. He went out with a secretary on Wed. and that was apparently the teacher he was speaking to just now. He's taking her out tomorrow. He's becoming quite the Don Juan."

"She's a clerk…" he snapped and then caught himself. "You know what? Let's just focus on the case okay? We need a crime scene squints or we might as well give up right now so get to work." He clapped twice before hopping up into the SUV and driving off without so much as a goodbye. He didn't even ask her to come with. Sure she had driven her own car this morning, but he didn't know that. She got into her car and called him. He could shut her out of his personal life, but he couldn't shut her out of the case.

"Where are you going?" She asked before he could answer.

"Back to the office."

"Aren't we working this case together?"

"Not much we can do without a crime scene Bones."

"We could talk to the family again…"

"About what Bones?" She didn't have an answer. "Just…Get me that crime scene."

"Fine." She snapped and hung up. He was right. They needed more forensic evidence before the case could move forward. She was not being her usual logical self. She was putting her feelings in front of her work. And this wasn't about her. It was about Carla Santori, and she deserved her full attention. And so she threw herself into her work, re-examining their conclusions from every angle. She slept in her office from 1am to 5am and got back to work the second she woke up. When Booth checked in at two that afternoon, she still had nothing new to report. Everything new she'd discovered just seemed to confirm what they already knew. She was killed between 9 and midnight with a folding chair, a brutal attack that left her body battered and broken before the fatal blow was delivered. Sweets said that kind of rage indicated a personal connection to the victim or some sort of mood altering substance or psychosis.

As she poured over reports that evening, she heard a yell from Dr. Hodgins' office. Moments later he appeared with a glossy 8x10 picture of a brown shag carpet.

"I found a synthetic fiber embedded in the wound." He was clearly excited. "It had to have been planted during the murder or post mortem."

"Did it belong to a carpet that looks like this?" She grabbed the picture to get a closer look.

"It did. Now we just need to find an old ugly rug and we've got our crime scene." He grinned.

"That is one of numerous possible conclusions Dr. Hodgins but I do agree that it could lead us to the location of the murder. Perhaps we could narrow it down further?"

"I'm waiting to hear back from the manufacturer, they might be able to tell us who installed that type of carpet in DC and from there we can pinpoint specific locations, hopefully one of those locations will be linked to Carla Santori."

"I'll go show this picture to Booth. Perhaps he has seen something like it during the course of his investigation."

"Isn't he on a date?" Hodgins asked.

"He won't mind. He wanted this information as quickly as possible." She grabbed her coat and headed for Booth's favorite Italian restaurant.

She stopped just outside, watching him smile and laugh with a tall dark haired woman whose face she couldn't see. Booth used to look at her that way. With that look that made her feel like she was the only person in the world. She missed him, but she'd known it would be this way. It was her own fault that he was on this date in the first place. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door. He was facing the entrance so he spotted her the instant she walked into the dimly lit room.

"Bones." He stood up, surprise and concern etched his features. "You okay? Everything okay?" She handed him the picture and managed a half hearted smile and greeting for his date. She was striking. Dark, Hispanic features, high cheekbones, excellent bone structure, warm smile…Her heart sank. This was the type of woman Booth should be with. Beautiful, intelligent, warm, loving.

"Have you seen this carpet in any of the suspect's homes or…anywhere?" She felt awkward and was grateful for Hodgins' impeccably timed phone call. She didn't turn away as she answered her cell.

"They stopped making this carpet in 1972. It was used in residential new construction in the Cleveland Park and Forest Hill neighborhoods." She repeated the neighborhoods to Booth, who was still standing, staring at the picture in his hands.

"Forest Hill…that's the victim's house…I didn't see any carpet like this though….it was all remodeled."

"Perhaps there is some of the old carpet left somewhere on the premises. Thank you Dr. Hodgins." She hung up as Booth apologized to his date. Sadra appeared to be highly irritated by his desertion.

"I'm sorry about your date," she lied as she got into the passengers seat of his car.

"No you're not Bones." He said softly, his eyes fixed firmly on the road in front of them.

"I am Booth. She was quite lovely." She tried to sound sincere but didn't quite manage it.

"You come all the way down here to show me a picture of carpet? You could have sent the picture to my phone." She hadn't thought of that.

"It wouldn't have been recognizable on a small screen in a dimly lit restaurant." She rationalized.

"You couldn't have called first?" He didn't sound annoyed, just deadpan. No emotion whatsoever. It was bizarre. She'd never known him to speak without emotion. He was an emotive person.

"I didn't think you'd answer since you were on a date, and it was important."

"I always answer. When have I not answered?" Okay, so he had a point.

"Look, I'm sorry about your date Booth. I'll call her, I'll explain, I'll apologize."

"You think I don't know what this is Bones? You think I haven't interrupted enough of your dates to know what this is."

"I told you Booth. I came down to show you the photograph to see if you recognized the carpet so that we could identify the murder scene, which YOU requested if you'll recall."

"You came down here because you're jealous Bones." He didn't sound accusatory, didn't get worked up. Just said it, in that hollow emotionless voice that was really starting to creep her out.

"I was not!" She lied again.

"You were to." He shrugged. "I get it Bones. It's just like Megan St. John… this girl who liked me in high school. I wasn't into her at all, but the second she started going out with my buddy Carson, I suddenly wanted her back. I was jealous of something I didn't even want. And that is EXACTLY what is happening here. Only the thing is Bones… it's actually really hard for me to move on. It actually killed me to make those two dates with those women. I felt like I was cheating on you or something. But I did it. I did what you wanted me to do, and you have to pretend like it doesn't bother you. Because it kills me…. It kills me when you look at me like that." God he was incredible. Why did he care about her so much? She wasn't worth it.

"I am so bad for you Booth." She wiped away one of the ever present tears that had haunted her all week.

"You're not Bones. You're perfect for me. You know it and I know it. But if that's not what you want, you have to let me try and find something else."


	4. Chapter 4

They pulled into their victim's driveway at 8pm. An agent met them there with a warrant but Booth hoped he wouldn't need it. The victim's husband had been extremely cooperative thus far. Of course, he could be the killer, so he couldn't let his guard down. Booth didn't think he was though. The guy loved his wife.

"Mr. Santori, I'm sorry for interrupting your evening. May we come in?" The hollow shell of a man that opened the door did not look like a murderer. His eyes were bloodshot, his skin had a distinctly greenish tinge to it and his cheeks were hollow.

"Certainly. Do you have any leads on my wife's case?" He asked hopefully.

"We have evidence that suggests she was killed in your home." His eyebrows shot up in alarm.

"Here! That can't be. I was home all night, so was my son. She never came home. We would've heard something."

"Do you have any of this type of flooring in your house?" Booth asked. The widower held it up to the light and his face lit up in recognition.

"Not anymore. We used to have it in the basement but we pulled it out last summer. It's in the shed now. The boys use the shed to practice so we just gave them that old carpet instead of throwing it out. It keeps it a little warmer out there."

"May we search the shed?" He waited for the moment's hesitation that indicated guilt and didn't see it.

"Absolutely. Take whatever you need." He walked them out across the back yard into a garage sized white shed set back from the house. Booth asked his forensics team to sweep the place before he and Bones sat down to question the husband and son again.

* * *

"We were practicing out there so we wouldn't have heard anything, even if she did come home." Brian said defensively.

"We know she was killed in the shed Brian. We know she was dropped off here at 9pm and we know you were practicing from 8pm till midnight." He pointed out.

"It must've happened after I went to bed." He said stubbornly. "I swear. I didn't see my mom get killed." He certainly didn't seem like the kind of kid who would kill his mom, but he didn't seem totally normal either. His eyes were bloodshot, he smelled bad and he was a little twitchy. Classic signs of drug use. He'd dismissed it as grief during his first interview, but this wasn't grief. It was a stimulant, probably meth. Brian had just moved up the list of suspects to numero uno.

"I'm gonna need the names of all the guys who were with you that night."

They found blood on the carpet and numerous metal folding chairs, two of which had traces of blood on them. Bones had insisted the entire carpet and all the folding chairs be brought back to the Jeffersonian. They didn't get back to her car until well after midnight.

He drove her back to the restaurant and stopped in the middle of the road to drop her at her car. She had one foot out of the SUV when she changed her mind and got back in. "I was jealous." She said, staring at the dashboard. A car came up behind them and honked so he had to keep driving. What the hell was this woman trying to do to him? He was only human. He could only bare his soul so many times before he fell apart. He was hanging by a thread as it was.

"I know Bones." He said simply, hoping that would be the end of the conversation.

"But not for the reason you said." He knew her better than she knew herself. He'd been right on. He understood her motivations, even if she didn't.

"Okay, why were you jealous?" He humored her.

"I didn't give you up because I don't want you. I gave you up because you don't want me. Not really." Weird how she kept saying "give you up." Sweets would definitely have something to say about her word choice. "I do want you. I love you actually…I'm in love with you I mean…" She was in love with him? Where was this coming from? If she loved him, surely she would've said it when it mattered. "At least I think I am, as much as a person like me can be in love with another person…"

"You love me?"

"I believe so yes. I have no other explanation for the choices I made and the things I am feeling. " She said, still not looking at him. "I will do as you suggested and I will be much more careful about how I speak to you… in regards to the women you choose to date. But I just didn't want you to labor under the impression that my desire to keep our relationship professional was because I didn't want you…." The words poured awkwardly out of her beautiful mouth, without so much as a breath or a pause in between. "I want you." His gut twisted, his heart was pounding, and an extremely unwelcome feeling overwhelmed him. Hope. There was still hope. She loved him. He knew he shouldn't be hopeful but he was. "And that is why I'm jealous. Not because I want what someone else has. Because I want something better for you than me. And I'm jealous of the people who are good enough to…. have you." She finally looked up into his eyes, and he saw real pain there. Real emotion. She really did love him. She just didn't know what to do with it yet. He had no idea what to say, but he knew he couldn't stand to be rejected again. He couldn't put himself out there again like he had. If she wanted him. She'd have to make the first move.

He pulled up next to her car again and stopped. "Thanks Bones." She nodded and got out.


	5. Chapter 5

"Something has clearly happened between the two of you since we last met." Sweets saw the distance in Agent Booth's face, the exhaustion in Dr. Brennan's. If he were a betting man, he'd say their last session had prompted a discussion about the nature of their relationship.

"This is not open for discussion Sweets so just… move on okay?" Booth said, predictably.

"Dr. Brennan you look exhausted." He switched tactics.

"I have not been sleeping well." She admitted. "But it has not had a negative impact on my work so I don't believe it's relevant."

"What do you believe has caused this bout of insomnia. It appears situational in nature."

"Don't answer that Bones, you don't have to answer that." Booth cut in.

"I will answer whatever questions I want to answer Booth." She snapped. "Booth is dating two women." She said, as if it explained everything.

"Bones!" His tone indicated both surprise and irritation.

"So Agent Booth's personal life has impacted your sleeping patterns?" Sweets clarified, just as surprised as her partner was.

"It has." She said simply.

"And why do you believe that is?"

"She doesn't want to give us a shot because she's scared. I'm trying to move on and she doesn't like it." Booth gave in to the inevitable.

"I am doing what is best for you, why can't you see that?" She said quietly. This dynamic was fascinating. All their cards were on the table and they were both making a complete mess of things. It was totally twisted.

"You admit then that the two of you are in love with each other?"

"That doesn't matter!" Dr. Brennan said emphatically. He noted that she didn't deny it.

"Look, this is pointless." Agent Booth interjected. "Bones has made her decision, I'm moving on, we're fine so let's just…" His phone rang and of course, he answered it.

"The band's here. Let's go." He got up and walked out the door without a goodbye, without waiting for Dr. Brennan, without another word. He was hurting badly. Dr. Brennan stood awkwardly and asked him if he would like to observe the interrogation. He agreed and w

* * *

"I didn't do it!" Finally, they caught a break. Sammy, a 14 year old bassist with stringy black hair, cracked under the elaborately combined interrogation techniques of Agent Booth and Dr. Sweets. After the two other band members had lied their way through their interviews, the youngest member broke and told all.

"We were smokin' glass, and she walked in. Zack gets crazy when he's jacked like that. She just wanted to ask if we were hungry." He started to cry. "She was always making us really good snacks for practice, cookies and sandwiches…. But Brian said she was gone for the night and we play better when we're high, it's so much more intense you know?"

"So how did it happen?" She asked him.

"Zach just flipped out. He grabbed one of those metal folding chairs and started hitting her with it. We tried to stop him but he went crazy and he just… she just… she was dead and we all panicked and drove her to the river and dumped her in. It's been eating me up you know…. I have nightmares about her face, those dead eyes looking back at me… she didn't do anything wrong. She was a nice lady." They sat there and watched him cry, she hated these kinds of cases. The kind where kids got mixed up with the wrong people and got themselves in serious trouble. It never seemed right somehow that they would be punished. She hoped they could get Sammy and Brian some help, drug counseling, therapy maybe…

"I need a drink," Booth said, after they'd corroborated the story with the other three and sent the boys to lock up. Her heart flipped in her chest. Would he ask her? Or would he call Valerie or Sadra?

"I have some good scotch." She said hopefully. "A gift from my publicist."

"Sounds great Bones, let's go." She felt like she'd just won something. Like Booth coming to her apartment was some kind of concession on his part and a victory on hers. They talked about the case as they drove and stopped to get Chinese take out on the way home. It was a comfortable conversation, but her stomach was slowly massing a tangle of knots and flutters that could only be nerves. She was nervous. An unexpected phenomenon since they'd experienced hundreds of nights just like this one over the years. But this felt different somehow.

He was wearing a grey t-shirt and his FBI jacket and jeans that fit him to perfection. The attraction that had simmered under the surface for years was asserting itself in the most inconvenient way. It hovered at the edge of her awareness, it made her skin tingle and warmed her insides. She slid surreptitious glances at his body, remembering the feel of his mouth against hers. She felt swirls of electricity, floating around them in the car and she couldn't explain any of it. His phone rang as they spread food across the tall island countertop in her kitchen.

"Hey Val Sorry I didn't call you, I've been so wrapped up in this case." His voice was sweet and sincere and it made her want to scream. She clenched her teeth and poured two glasses of scotch. "Right now?" Her heart sank. He was going to leave her. She couldn't stand it. Couldn't bare the thought of him walking out the door and leaving her with all this food and two glasses of scotch and a hole in her heart. She came up quietly behind him, he wasn't paying attention. "I'm having dinner with my partner but maybe I could meet you for a…" She snatched the phone away from him and snapped it shut in one quick motion, shoving it in her back pocket.

"Bones!" He stared at her in disbelief.

"Call her tomorrow." She said sourly. His mouth twitched, and something that looked suspiciously like a smile hovered at the corner of his ridiculously sexy mouth.

"I can't believe you just did that." He shook his head and popped a wonton into his mouth.

"I don't like her." She shrugged.

"She's not gonna like you much either after that little stunt." He didn't seem to care that much, which made her feel disproportionately euphoric.

"I don't think she'll be around long enough for that to matter." She said confidently. His eyebrows shot up and he eyed her curiously.

"You don't?"

"I don't." She didn't know what the hell she was doing but whatever it was, it was not logical. Her eyes were glued to his and sparks shot back and forth between them.

"And why is that?" His mouth curved into one of those amused half smiles that made her melt.

"Just a feeling." She said breathlessly.

"A _gut_… feeling?"

"Something like that." Her eyes roamed his face, his shoulders, his neck…

"If you wanna sleep with me Bones, just say so." He was still grinning. He was teasing her. His dark eyes dropped to her mouth as he ate another wonton. She licked her lips. A long pregnant silence sat heavily between them, Booth chewed slowly and she just sat there watching his jaw move, wishing she could beg him to sleep with her, beg him to forget what she'd said. But she couldn't bring herself to respond.

"Wuss." He finally broke the silence and returned his attention to his food, snatching up his chopsticks and shoveling rice into his mouth. She took a deep breath.

"What if we did?" She blurted out. Booth choked on his rice.

"What if we what? Slept together?" His mouth was still full so the words came out muffled.

"What if we had sex?" She repeated, not knowing what she expected or even what she wanted him to say.

"It would be…" He swallowed and took a swig of his scotch. "…hot." She shivered.

"It would be wouldn't it?" She took an enormous sip of her own scotch and let the hot burning sensation calm her nerves. "Probably wouldn't be the best idea though." She couldn't stop staring at his chest, his biceps, his hands….

"Probably not." He agreed, his dark eyes drifting to her breasts, making it suddenly very difficult to breath.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up." She said breathlessly, trying to shake off whatever hormonal haze was causing her to hit on her partner. She was not usually so irrational. Her biological urges had somehow silenced her brain.

"Actually, I brought it up." He said easily. "And I'm not sorry." He said it in this sort of careless belligerent tone that she didn't recognize. He wasn't his usual sensitive, passionate self. He was a man who knew what he wanted and didn't care about the consequences. It seriously thrilled her to know that he wanted her. This incredible man, who she'd been attracted to for years, who she'd grown to love and respect and depend upon… he wanted her. He knew exactly who she was and he still wanted her.

"Booth…" She'd never know what she was about to say because he held up his hand to stop her.

"It's fine Bones. Just… lets finish our dinner and then I'll go meet Val for a drink and we can pretend this conversation never happened." He said firmly, he was trying to make this easy for her. But it wasn't easy. She knew it the second he said that woman's name. She had to keep him with her. Just for the night. And she'd do anything to make that happen.


	6. Chapter 6

Booth was hard as a rock. The woman could turn him on like no one else on the planet. He had to stop reading into everything she said or the rest of their partnership would be incredibly painful, both physically and emotionally. He let out a long slow breath and returned his attention to his food. He heard Bones push her chair back to stand up and his eyes shot back to hers. She was walking around the counter towards him. Her gorgeous body wrapped in black from head to toe. Black jacket, black lacy shirt thing, black pants, black high heel boots. Her eyes were dark and smoky and he thought for a fleeting second that maybe she was evil incarnate. She was killing him, with that hot, vulnerable look in her eyes. He turned on his barstool so he was facing her as she approached.

She wedged herself slowly between his legs, her hands slid over his chest and she lowered her face to his. He was surprised, but he still took his time, making her come to him, making her prove that she wanted this. But when her mouth melted into his, he lost all restraint. His legs parted, his hands slid under her shirt to settle on the soft skin of her waist and he pulled her against him. Her hands climbed up into his hair and she was making little noises that drove him insane.

Her mouth was hungry and the kiss held a hint of desperation. "Stay," she whispered into his mouth. And that's when he remembered Val. Val was the only reason she was doing this. She didn't want him. She just didn't want him to move on. He pulled away and searched her steamy blue eyes for some confirmation of his suspicions. Oddly, he couldn't find one there. Maybe because he didn't want it to be true, maybe because it really wasn't true.

"If I wasn't planning to go out with Valerie later… would you be kissing me right now?" He choked out the words. She looked at him thoughtfully, her hands still buried in his hair, her body still pressed against his.

"Maybe not right now, but…" He snapped, this was too much. He needed to regain some measure of control over this insane situation. He shot out of his seat and pushed her back against the edge of the counter with his body. His arms caged her in, grasping the counter on either side of her, his knuckles white with tension.

"I'm leaving Bones." He kissed her, teasing and tormenting her with his mouth. "But before I go… you have to make a decision." His forehead dropped to hers and she tried to kiss him. But he couldn't allow her to believe that she had any control, so he kept just out of reach of her delicious mouth. He was the one in control now, this was his game. "If you want me to ditch those women." He nipped at her top lip. "You have to stop dating." He tilted his head the other way and sucked gently on her bottom lip. "And if you need to satisfy your biological urges or… whatever you squints call it…" He angled his hips slightly, just enough so she could feel how much he wanted her. "You come to me for that." Her breath was coming faster and she was arching against him, pressing her soft curves into the unyielding planes of his body. "I won't push you, I won't ask you out, I won't talk about how I feel, I won't expect you to be with me forever…I'll give you all the time you need Bones, but you gotta give up something in return." She was tugging on his shirt, stretching it, clutching the material in her hands. "Now do you want me to stop seeing other people?" He murmured against her lips, "Or not?"

"I want you to stop. I'll stop." She said quickly, breathlessly into his mouth. Victory. It surged through him, she was his, if only for a while, if only in this one way. He slid his hand into her back pocket, pulled out his phone and pushed send.

"Yeah, Val, hey sorry we got cut off…. Actually I just wanted to call and tell you that I don't think things are gonna work out with us…. You're really great, I'm just still hung up on someone else and I guess I'm not quite ready to start dating yet." Bones kissed his neck, her hands moved under his t-shirt and up his back, scraping his skin with her nails. He barely heard Valerie's response. "Thanks Val, I'm so sorry." He hung up and gazed down into Bones' beaming face.

"You won't regret that." She whispered, her hand tracing the waistband of his jeans. He groaned and kissed her one last time before he pulled away.

"I know." He said as he put on his jacket.

"Why are you leaving?" She demanded with a hint of a pout.

"You better think about what you just did. Think about it and decide if it's what you want Bones. Because you and I both know that the only reason you let me touch you tonight is because you wanted me to ditch Val. Now there is no Val and we can find out what you really want."

"So… I just what? Wait a week and see if I still feel the same way?" She asked, confusion clouding her clear blue eyes. "That is unnecessary Booth, I've been attracted to you since the day we met. I want you." He headed for the door, hanging on to the last threads of his self control.

"I'm not talking about sex. You just agreed to stop dating other men Bones. That's a relationship. It may be a twisted, secret, friends with benefits kind of a relationship where nobody talks about their feelings or their future, but it _is_ a relationship and that's something you have never wanted with me."

"I know what I want." She said confidently, but he didn't believe her. Sure she might want him right now, but that rational mind of hers would analyze this to death the second he walked out the door. All her excuses would come back, all her insecurities... and she would reject him again.

"I hope so." He left, feeling like he'd just made a deal with the devil.

* * *

"Hey Bones." Booth waltzed into her office three days later. She still had no idea what to do. She hadn't meant for things to go so far. She'd just wanted to keep him with her, just for one night. Which of course she hadn't been able to do, and now she found herself in an entirely new predicament. He flopped onto her couch, lying across the length of it, propping his hands behind his head.

She was struck again with the force of that intense masculine energy. That long, lean, muscular body was undeniably appealing. Giving up sex with other men for sex with Booth was really no sacrifice. The only problem was, this deal was everything she wanted and nothing that he wanted. Only a completely broken person would even consider allowing him to do something like this.

"We got help for Brian and Sammy. They'll be in a juvenile facility that specializes in addictions and offers regular counseling. If they behave themselves, they could be out in a year and their records will be clean." She smiled, exactly what she had hoped.

"What about Zach and Jacob?" She asked, already knowing the answer. She'd seen the lack of feeling, the cold calculating looks in those four empty eyes.

"They'll be tried as adults. They show no remorse, no regret… they really don't have a chance. Zach is 18 and Jacob is 17 and they both have criminal records."

"I guess that is appropriate," She sighed.

"You sleeping better?" He asked. She blushed. She still couldn't believe his two dates had such a significant impact on her. The crying, the insomnia, the panic the calculated seduction. It all seemed so odd now, looking back on it. But all she had to do was picture him out on that bench with Valerie or in that restaurant with Sadra and all those feelings came rushing back.

"Much." She could not stand to see her partner with another woman. Those intense jealous feelings were too strong and she was not equipped to cope with them. It was the first time in her life that she'd ever had an emotion she couldn't compartmentalize and control. And she honestly didn't believe she would ever develop that capability where Booth was concerned. The emotion was too powerful, it completely overwhelmed her.

"Good." He grinned. "Glad I could help." She rolled her eyes.

"My dad is hosting a science fair next month. He wondered if Parker might want to participate." She tried to change the subject.

"Will you help him?" He asked automatically.

"Of course." What kind of question was that?

"I'll talk to Rebecca and Parker about it." He said. "I'm sure he'd love to do it, we just have to work out his schedule." Silence, and more silence followed.

"I haven't changed my mind Booth." She blurted it out without meaning to, without segue, without thinking. But her mind was made up and she could see no reason to postpone the inevitable. She knew she would take him up on his offer. She wouldn't change her mind. She couldn't make it through another week like the one she'd just been through.

"About the science fair?" His brow wrinkled in confusion.

"No." She gave him a significant look that she hoped would remind him of their conversation. He grinned at her, heaving himself out of the couch and circling her desk so he was only inches away, facing her, his body propped against the edge of the desk beside her. She could smell him, feel the heat radiating off his body.

His voice was low and scratchy. "You mean about…"

"The...twisted relationship that we discussed." She smiled up at him, her heart slamming against her ribcage. "Have you changed your mind?" She asked.

"It hasn't even been a week yet Bones." His hot brown eyes wandered purposefully over her body and she wished the door to her office was closed so she could pounce on him. "Monday will be a week." The new Booth had a different voice. It was quiet and secretive and full of sexual promise. In that moment, the full force of that sexy FBI charm was unleashed on her for the first time and she was completely unprepared for it. Both her body and her emotions responded to his voice, his charmers smile, his suggestive eyes. Her stomach churned, her palms began to sweat. She'd never experienced anything like it. Sure he'd always been charming, but this was totally different. He was sexy, not charming. He wanted her, he didn't care who knew it, and he knew exactly how to get what he wanted. Very Alpha male. She forgot about her fears, her insecurities… she even forgot about what was best for Booth. She couldn't help herself. All she could think about was how much she wanted him.

"Would you want to...perhaps, come over on Monday?" She asked, feeling like an awkward teenager, trying not to drool.

"If you want to sleep with me Bones, just say so." A cocky, confident smirk transformed his face. Once again, she found herself too petrified to answer that question. She was usually so bold sexually. Why was this any different? One strong hand drifted to her chin, his thumb tugged her bottom lip downward and a fresh shot of lust spiked through her. "Later Bones." His thumb slid over her lip before he pushed himself up off her desk and sauntered out of the room. She watched him walk away, admiring the way he moved, the way he wore his suit, the way he was built. Her skin was hot, her mouth was dry and she was undeniably turned on. How had he done it? All her good intentions in the toilet, her tears dried, her heartache subsided. She felt... excited... and Happy. Really happy for the first time in a long time. Whatever this was, whatever was happening between them, it was good. Twisted... but good.

THE END


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